Ealph beskine ellis



(No Model.) I

R E. ELLIS. FOLDING CARRIAGE TOP. No 283,873. Patented Aug. 28, 1883.

HIlIUi '1" L Iliurrnn STATES tries.

PATENT RALPH ERSKINE ELLIS, OF MUN GIE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE W. OROZIER, OF SAME PLACE.

FOLDING CARRIAGE -TOP.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 283,873, dated August 28, 1883,

Application filed July 6, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RALPH 'E. ELLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muncie, in the county of Delaware and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Folding Carriage-Top, of which the following isaspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in folding carriage tops; and it consists in dispensing with the front bow used in four-bow tops, making a top with three hows, the front part of which consists of a front section of a bOW,fOL1I longitudinal slats and three crossbraces, all connected together and curved downward in the shape of a top, thesaid front part being hinged to the top of the front bow, so that it will fold down on the bows when they are pressed together or laid back.

The object of my invention is to construct a carriage-top the front part of which consists of a slat-frame hinged to the top of the front bow, thereby dispensing with the stuffing of the front and allowing the said front to be folded down on the bows when the top is let down. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated by the accompanying drawin gs, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a top in use, and Fig. 2 is a view looking down on the front of an uncovered top.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The bows A B C and the prop D D are all old and constructed in the usual manner.

The front a of the top extends over and forward of the bow A. To the top of the bow A are secured the ears 0, for the purpose of securing the rod 0, which passes through the rear ends of the four curved wooden slats, b, which project forward and join the front section, F, all as shown in Fig. 2.

A cross-bar, b, (of wood or metal,) is secured I across the slats 1), near the bow A, as shown, and two cross-bars, b, are secured to the ends of the section F, and across the slats 2), near 5 their front ends, all as shown in Fig. 2.

The proparms D are secured to the ends of the section at e, and near the top of bow B, so that the front part, a, may be made to stand out in shape, as shown in Fig. 1, or, when the 0 By dispensing with the front bow of the olds'tyle tops I am enabled to project the front a farther forward, and have no bow in the way in getting in and out of the buggy. I also dispense with the heavy and irregular stuffing, and the covet will always retain its even 0011- veXed shape by reason of the slats and crossbraces all being curved slightly downward, as shown.

I am aware of what has been done by Steadman and Spar, and

What I claim, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a folding carriage-top, the wooden slats b, secured to the section F, and having two cross-braces, Z), secured crosswise of the said slats and section, the slats b all secured together by a cross-brace, b, the whole hinged to the top of the bow A, by a rod, a, passing through the ears 0, and the ends of the slats b,

all for the purpose set forth.

RALPH ERSKINE ELLIS.

Witnesses:

WVQA. 000K, L. A. ADAMSON. 

